


Three's a Cloud

by modelmagic



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: I wasn't gonna post this on here but that relationship tag is amusing, M/M, OC reference pic inside. it's Gaynbow, but also completely genuine fyi, they all go on a camping trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 20:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15469485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modelmagic/pseuds/modelmagic
Summary: Good news: Branch attempts to make a new friend. Bad news: The friend is dating Cloud Guy, and Branch cannot wrap his head around why someone would want to do that.





	Three's a Cloud

**Author's Note:**

> Gaynbow reference pic: http://telepods.tumblr.com/post/173621019279/two-drawings-pre-backgroundjpeg-and-some-other

This part of the forest wasn’t anything new to Branch, nor was there anything particularly special about it. If it were a completely vacant area, then there would be something interesting about it, but again, that wasn’t the case.

He assumed that this would be a perfect, non-threatening spot to bring young trolls for a field trip. No potential danger being there, nothing overly extravagant to distract them from their lesson.

Which is exactly why he was revisiting a not-very-interesting part of this forest to begin with.

Why would Branch do that? It’s because Gaynbow, the new teacher at the young trolls’ pod, was planning a field trip and wanted to be extra sure on where to take them that wouldn’t be too much for the little ones. He wanted to experience it himself first, however, not alone because he wanted someone to be there and teach him some information about the area. Branch respects the rainbow person’s caution and awareness of the importance of preparation. Those traits tended to be missing in most trolls.

Other trolls could’ve been his guide to the forest, such as Karma, being a nature expert and all. But was she an expert on being prepared for every possible scenario, like Branch? Most likely not. Which made Branch the most fitting troll for the job and undoubtedly why Poppy gave him the task of doing this.

Also, Branch just so happened to be there when Gaynbow went to Poppy for help about his plan for the kids, but who was counting that? Not Branch. Besides, Branch and Gaynbow weren’t strangers to one another and this was an opportunity to hang out some more without the interruption of other trolls. Poppy urged Branch to treat this as more of a ‘nerd campout’ rather than just guiding someone to a place with some Fun Forest Facts on the way there and back.

Branch was actually looking forward to having this be a camping trip and he was actually looking forward to making a new friend, not to flex his knowledge on the forest. Not  _just_  doing that, anyway.

* * *

After setting up their tent just before the sunlight dimmed, the two sat on their respective logs near the campfire. Gaynbow kept rambling about his experiences so far in Troll Village since moving here. Or was he still talking about events from before he moved? Was he comparing the two?

Branch had to admit to himself that he wasn’t really paying attention. Not that he was bored by what his… friend? His acquaintance was talking about. It’s just that at some point his mind wandered off to thoughts he’d been having for nearly as long as he’s known Gaynbow. In fact, he’d been thinking about it since that same afternoon in which he met Gaynbow; while explaining his reasons for moving here, he ended up showing Branch a picture of his…  _significant other_.

And Branch just  _needed_  to address it, now. It just— It didn’t seem right.

“I have a question.” Branch said. Gaynbow paid attention to what was said. “It… It doesn’t have to do with what you were talking about, sorry.”

“Ah.” Gaynbow became noticeably less excited, but still interested in the topic change. “About what, then?”

“Why are you… a rainbow?” Branch mentally face palmed.

Gaynbow tilted his head a bit as he examined Branch’s face. “I could get into the presumed answer to that, but your shifted eyes and slight cringe let me know that your original question wasn’t about why I happen to be a sentient rainbow.” He giggled.

“Alright, you got me.” Branch exhaled for the first time in what felt like forever. He felt as though he just cornered himself in a room, but he had to address the elephant in the room. The  _cloud_  in the room, so to speak. Oh god, not literally. Thank goodness that Cloud Guy wasn’t anywhere here, right?

 _“WHY DO YOU LIKE CLOUD GUY?!”_ That came out much louder than intended and startled Gaynbow. Also, he probably just took it as an insult. Oh, no. Oh, no no no. Don’t scare off a new friend already, Branch. “I mean, why are you dating him?” Was that better? Not by much. “Okay, no offense, but just…  _Why?_ Um… I like love stories?” Well, who doesn’t enjoy one every now and then…?

The fact that Gaynbow had gotten weirdly silent wasn’t helping Branch’s nerves. “Uh… Well, I, uh…”

“…If it’s too…  _personal_ , then you can just forget I said anything. It’s fine.” Except it wasn’t fine. At all, actually. Very rarely does Branch find someone with this many common interests and traits as himself. And by ‘rarely’, he means  _never._

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. They  _are_  both a bit more on the introverted side and prefer more peaceful activities than, say, partying until your eyes burn from the glitter and your ears bleed—mainly from the ridiculously loud music, but also from the glitter. That alone makes them outliers. But again, a big part of this camping trip was to get to know Gaynbow better, and Branch knew that there  _had_  to be more that they have in common.

The one itsy-bitsy, little,  ** _giant_**  difference between the two being that Gaynbow has romantic feelings for Cloud Guy, and that made all the difference in the world. Anyone in their right mind, especially with one this similar to Branch’s, could see how Cloud Guy must be avoided at all costs. He’s  _Cloud Guy._ As in, _that_ Cloud Guy. The one with the socks and the high-fives and the constant violation of privacy.

Unless…

Unless Gaynbow  _didn’t_  know everything about Cloud Guy, and Branch had to be the one to let him know how obnoxious he is. Oh, no.

How would Branch even approach that situation?  _‘Hey, your boyfriend is one of the worst people I’ve ever met, just letting you know. Please, don’t unfriend me.’_

“I know he’s… odd.” Oh, thank goodness. Still, Branch knew that openly hating someone’s significant other to their face wasn’t exactly a way to establish a friendship, so he held back on any snark. “The thing is that I don’t… exactly… entirely… know why…” Gaynbow looked at him in slight shame before switching to lecture mode. “And I’ve learned to accept that! It’s helped me to also accept that sometimes I don’t have to know the exact meaning to _everything_ ever. And if you knew me back then, you’d know how big that is.” He reached behind his back. “I mean, why do I occasionally feel the need to bite certain objects, such as this ruler? …Actually, the exact answer is oral fixation, so bad example, b-but I can think of a different one!”

Branch stared as Gaynbow stared at his ruler, practically reading his thoughts on whether or not to bite that ruler at this very moment. Maybe him and Cloud Guy were a better match than Branch thought a few seconds ago. “That’s understandable. The part about not getting why you like him, I mean. But you just seem  _so_  into him, surely you have at least some reasons.”

“Hm. One aspect that I know for sure, in fact, it may be what started my feelings for him in the first place, is that he is interesting to me.”

“Please explain.”

“He… has his own way of living life, a strange way. He himself has told me that there’s no deep reason to why he acts the way he does. I took a liking to learning about him,  _examining_  him, even. Noticing details such as how his cloud bumps tend to be inconsistent; sometimes having just five, other times having smaller ones in between, o-or having twice that amount! Not counting the two that-“ He better not be blushing. “Er… Nevermind. It just… Oh, this isn’t helping much, is it?”

Branch slowly shook his head in response. Gaynbow brought his index finger to his face in deep thought before continuing. “Something that could perhaps explain this a bit more, uh— We used to… date, let’s say.” What. “And then, an event happened where I could honestly say that I hated him.” Most relatable phrase anyone has ever said about Cloud Guy ever. 10/10. “W-Well, that seems a bit too strong. Uh,  _very much disliked_  him. Yes. And… I’m not comfortable going into detail about that.” Aw. “…After a  _long_  while, I moved here, where he also happened to be. Small world, as he said. And we very slowly worked problems out. We’re still patching things up…”

“Hm.” Branch impaled a blueberry on the tip of a stick with the intention to hold it near the campfire.  “That mainly shows that you have history with him, not really an explanation as to  _why_  you decided to continue making history with him.” Branch continued staring at the blueberry, now engulfed in flames. This wasn’t any of his business— the relationship, he means— it really wasn’t. Something in the pit of his stomach, however, was telling him to be alert. He assumed that the feeling came from how he wouldn’t want Cloud Guy to hurt Gaynbow. Again, apparently. Damn trolls and their overwhelming, unconditional amount of love for others.

He turned to face Gaynbow, who had his eyes shifted as his face kept gaining more of a red hue to it. “I-I suppose that there’s a charm to him. As I said, I h-  _strongly disliked_  him at some point. And we crossed paths again… And I just couldn’t resist. Believe me, I tried!” Wow, that was a lot of blushing.

Branch muttered. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Hm?”

“I-I said… My blueberry’s burnt…” He quickly removed it from the fire, finding out that his excuse was actually true. He put it out immediately.

Gaynbow raised half of his unibrow at this, then simply continued with his gushing. “Cloud Guy has been spending more time at my new house and it’s… It’s just nice all around. I love being so… domestic with him, now.” He blushed. Yet again.

It  _had_ been a while since Cloud Guy has intruded Branch’s bunker, huh?

“Funny,” Branch took a bite of his burnt blueberry and spoke with his mouth full. “I try my best to keep him out.”

“What?”

“ _I said that this blueberry sure is good!”_

Branch stared at his meal to avoid eye contact. Gaynbow spoke up. “I know that you hate him, Branch.”

Branch choked.

Cloud Guy laughed.

Ugh,  _no_.

_No._

“And I was just wondering when you were going to let that bombshell fall,” he said.

Gaynbow jumped in place before looking around him for the obvious, who-else-would-it-be creature behind that voice. “Sweetie, what did I say about your eavesdropping?”

 _‘Sweetie’?_   _Cloud Guy?_ Branch was suddenly thankful for the fact that he had already spat out that one bite of burnt blueberry.

Cloud Guy floated away from his hiding spot behind a tree. Branch supposed that a pure white cloud out in the night would’ve given it away, so props for thinking it through. Actually, no. No props because that was still Cloud Guy. “What?” As he got closer to the ground, his lanky arms and legs extended out of his body. Disgusting. “Can’t I spend some time with my two most  _favorite_  boys in the world?”

Branch blinked. “No.”

The way that Cloud Guy, at any given moment, knew where Branch was— It made Branch paranoid. Well, more than usual. Some worst-case scenarios involved possible tracking chips, which made Branch uneasy for self-explanatory reasons, yet also feel somewhat proud of himself if that were the case due to finally figuring out something,  _anything_ having to do with Cloud Guy’s schemes without him spelling them out at the end.

Branch’s thoughts put a puzzle together. Gaynbow said that Cloud Guy had been spending more time at his place, which is also where Branch and Gaynbow discussed their plans before leaving, and Cloud Guy presumably wasn’t there, but he  _is_  prone to snooping… Ugh.

As Cloud Guy floated in the space between the two logs, Branch took notice of how the flames of the campfire created a lighting that caused the cloud to look even more intimidating than usual. Although his question didn’t mention a name, it had an aura of wanting to be answered by Branch: “What are you menfolk up to?”

“You followed us all the way over here and I doubt that you didn’t somehow listen in to our plans, plans of which you’re not, nor have ever been, a part of.”

Cloud Guy proceeded to do the absolute worst thing imaginable: Take a seat next to Branch. A bit too close, at that, but what else was expected of him? He scooted closer every time Branch moved further away until they reached the end of the log. Cloud Guy brought a hand to his own chest. “This is how you treat your guests when asking a simple question? Yikes.”

As if the lack of personal space wasn’t bad already, Cloud Guy placed an arm around Branch’s shoulder. Branch made a mental list of all the pros and cons of what would happen if he bit Cloud Guy’s arm off at this very moment. Pros: Immediate payback. Cons: Most likely upsetting Gaynbow. Touching Cloud Guy with his mouth.  _The fact that Cloud Guy might actually like it_. Ew! Gross, gross, gross!

Doing anything at all for the first time in… a while (probably daydreaming over how ‘handsome’ Cloud Guy,  _this_ Cloud Guy, is. Gag.), Gaynbow walked towards two and sat next to the uninvited cloudy culprit. Branch heard next to no words that came out of Gaynbow’s mouth, as Cloud Guy still had his filthy, rubber-looking arm on him. The ‘Immediate payback’ is really starting to overshadow all the cons at the moment.

Cloud Guy simply smiled at him. He used his other hand to hold Gaynbow’s face, bringing him closer. “Now, I don’t believe that I’ve properly greeted you yet.”

 ** _No!_**  Horrible! Cloud Guy was kissing someone on the lips, said someone was happily returning it, and all of this was happening maybe five inches away from Branch’s face. Every single one of those events seemed to be worse than the last. This shouldn’t be happening ever. Period. They’re so loud, this was disgusting, Branch couldn’t look away, his eyes were burning.

However, this gave Branch the opportunity to get away from Cloud Guy’s grip. Unfortunately, they both noticed how forceful he was when doing that did that. If it weren't for Gaynbow being here, Branch would’ve tried to physically get that smirk off of Cloud Guy’s face.

Thankfully, the two didn’t seem like they were going to smush faces again. Unfortunately, Cloud Guy was still here. “Heard through the grapevine that Sour Puss doesn’t see why I’m the apple of your eye.”

Before Branch could retaliate, Gaynbow responded. “Making no attempt to hide the fact that you were eavesdropping yet again, I see.”

Cloud Guy grinned. “Oh, I’ve been very bad.”  His noticeable eyelashes fluttered quickly as he leaned towards Gaynbow. “In fact, you should pun-“

 _“ENOUGH!”_  Branch yelled while popping up between them, his hands holding their faces apart—or in Cloud Guy’s case, going through his mouth to prevent him from finishing that sentence. “Cloud Guy!” He said as he turned his head. “Why do we need you here?  _Oh_ , that’s right, we don’t! So, goodbye.”

After raising an eyebrow, Cloud Guy’s body evaporated in order for him to reappear between the two, making them startled as he placed his arms around both of their bodies. “Simple. Being his  _other half_ , wherever Gaynbow goes, I follow.” He winked at his fellow weather creature.

As Branch groaned, he struggled to figure out if it was towards Cloud Guy or towards Gaynbow for blushing at the comment. Had the blush been out of embarrassment for having such an annoying, time-wasting significant other, Branch would’ve perhaps been less mad.

Branch’s thoughts went in a different direction. Did Gaynbow plan this? He apparently knew that Branch hated Cloud Guy. He most likely would’ve known that Cloud Guy was listening in on this.

Ugh.

This trip was going to definitely get worse.

* * *

This trip got worse.

It got worse and Branch found himself outside of the tent, a few feet away, leaning on a tree, half debating on what to do next, and half enjoying a quiet moment all to himself.

Cloud Guy sucks, but that wasn’t new. And then there was Gaynbow, no doubt emotionally manipulating Branch into not ditching them— what, with the way he worryingly called out Branch’s name when he was leaving, asked where he was going, and told him to be careful because it’s dark outside. He probably learned those acting skills from Cloud Guy. A match made in heaven.  _Oh_ , they’re sky creatures and heaven is— Right, right. How amusing.

A turn of the head and the tent could still be seen in the not-so-distant distance thanks to the lighting in it. The shapes of the two inside of the tent could also be seen. Talking was heard. Turned out that all the peace and quiet was simply because those two weren’t talking at all, and Branch wasn’t surprised one bit.

“Suppose you and I could snog until McSlappy gets back.” Ew, everything Cloud Guy says just sounds so sleazy. Branch assumed that somewhere in the silence, Gaynbow’s facial expression showed disagreement. For a so-called ‘nerd’, this may have been the first smart thing that Gaynbow had done all night. Ugh, Cloud Guy kept moving closer to him and insisting. “Limited time offer you can’t  _refuuuse._ ”

“I can’t believe you.”

“Think of a better way to kill time, Twinkie?”

“Not that. I can’t believe how intent you are on sabotaging my day with Branch!” Cloud Guy’s chuckle was exceedingly obnoxious. “Hm. I suppose saying that I ‘can’t believe’ that you did this isn’t accurate. I saw it coming, but my point still stands.” The chuckling abruptly stopped.

Cloud Guy gasped, presumably being genuinely hurt, but Branch found it hard to tell. Has Cloud Guy ever been genuine with anything? Is this relationship even real? If they’re both acting, then that made sense. Complete sense. But also, Branch would’ve screamed over wasting so much time with them trying to figure this ‘romance’ out. “Are you implying that I, Cloud Guy, am predictable?”

“Perhaps. Why?” Gaynbow scooted closer to him and continued to do so with each passing accusation. “Does that… push your buttons? Hit a nerve? Rustle your jimmies?  _Get your socks in a bunch?_ ”

Unexpectedly, Cloud Guy spoke in a tone that seemed impressed and somewhat flirtatious, which made Branch gag. “My tendency for figures of speech seems to have rubbed off on you, eh?”

Gaynbow spoke in a similar tone of voice, and Branch wished that he’d never have to hear that again. “I learned from the best.”

Nope. They better not kiss again. Branch may have been able to avert his eyes this time around, but they would’ve still probably been heard, and Branch has quite the active imagination. Not that he’d need to imagine much, he already had a picture of the first time it happened carved into the side of his brain.  _Ugh._

“I’m still serious!” Oh, thank goodness that Gaynbow let there be more space between the two. Smart Gaynbow moment #2.

“Oh, are we actually arguing about the Branch thing or are we still flirting after I pretended to be hurt by you saying I’m predictable?” THEY  _ARE_  ACTING.

“Actually arguing.”

“Just making sure we’re on the same page.”

“We’ve made such progress on our communication as a couple!” Nope, not acting. Gaynbow gushed as he quickly clapped his hands together. “However, we still need to work on other issues. Such as this one! I need to make friends in Troll Village, which shouldn’t be that difficult. This seems like a loving community!”

“I know, right?”

“But, I have a lot in common with Branch, I mean, I think, so I’d like to make progress with that.”

“Aw, I’m sure you two’ll hit it off.”

“We did! At least, at first we did and then, we were talking about one of his concerns, until you arrived! You’re the problem— Aw, don’t give me that face.” Branch wasn’t able to see what  _that face_  was, but he bet that it was one that only a mother or Gaynbow could love.

“Cloud!”

“Jeez, not even the face worked this time.” Gaynbow stayed quiet. Cloud Guy continued. “Cupcake?” Gaynbow hummed in response. Was that an offer or does Cloud Guy only give his boyfriend food-related nicknames? “You realize he’s listening in on us right now? Likely seeing some of our movement due to the shadows?”

“Oh, definitely.”

 _“I’m not!”_ Damn it!

Cloud Guy extended his arm up and made a hand gesture with the intention of Branch seeing it, one in which his index finger and his thumb form a circle. Branch never bothered to know what that was called, but he hated it. “And you’re pissed when I listen to your convos.” He brought a hand up to his forehead in dramatic flair. “You wound me, Lover Dearest.”

“Cloud.”

“Alright, alright. Tell you what: consider it nothing but clear skies up ahead. However, there maybe turbulence and mild thunderstorms when you’re AWOL.”

“…At least it’s a start!”

Oh, wow. Thanks, Gaynbow. Branch thought about it; it  _was_  some improvement. Having no Cloud Guy near him at all would’ve been ideal, but unrealistic. Having a  _calm_  Cloud Guy near him was… still not ideal since Cloud Guy would still be there, but it was a start. That was, if he’s actually being honest here. And he  _had_ to be.

Wait.

**_WAIT._ **

Branch ran and nearly ripped the tent trying to get it to open, his body now completely soaked. “Cloud Guy!”

“Yes, may I help you?”

“Making it rain while I’m outside isn’t a ‘nice’ thing to do, believe it or not! In fact, this is  _literally_  the opposite of ‘considering it clear skies up ahead’.”

Gaynbow walked towards Branch with the intention of handing him a towel with all the emotion of someone trying to pet an animal that will most likely bite.

“Anywhoozle,” Cloud Guy started. “The rain made you come back quickly.” He floated over Branch and towards the tent entrance. “Now we can continue our little playdate.” He closed it and floated back to his pillow. “And I, personally, find that nice.”

Silence.

More silence.

Branch was stuck in a tent, feeling and looking like a wet dog, with his nemesis and his nemesis’ boyfriend, who also didn’t turn out to be that great. At least, that’s what it seemed like for now. Or something. Gaynbow didn’t plan for Cloud Guy to come here and ruin their plans, but… Ugh, it was confusing. All Branch wanted was to just be back in his comfy bunker with updated anti-Cloud Guy technology.

Gaynbow didn’t seem too happy and avoided eye contact with Branch.

Cloud Guy seemed to be lazily examining the tent, a finger near his overbite as he did so. And then he stared at Branch.

Quietly.

He stared at Branch.

“What now?” Although not looking forward to whatever answer he would get out of that, Branch decided that it would be better than to continue the awkward silence and the fact that Cloud Guy kept quietly staring at him during it.

Tilting his head up to look at him, Gaynbow hummed as he brought an orange finger to his face in thought.

None of his ideas seemed to interest Branch as much as they did to Cloud Guy. At least, that’s what Branch assumed was happening. He heard talking, but didn’t actually hear anything that was said.

And then he rested his head and fell asleep before he knew it.

* * *

Morning.

Branch couldn’t get back to sleep, but he appreciated having some quiet time for his thoughts rather than interacting with the odd couple.

Actually, not even interacting with them considering that they just spent most of the night with each other yammering about who knows what.

He tilted his head a little, being able to see the two sharing a sleeping bag, snoozing away. Apparently, Gaynbow’s the big spoon. Good for them…?

In spite of everything, everything that had happened thus far… Branch had to admit that deep down, very, very deep down, he might’ve considered what he was seeing to be… somewhat… not-entirely-horrible.

What he  _was_  more willing to easily admit was that a sleeping Cloud Guy was one of the more tolerable versions of Cloud Guy, even if he does snore. And his face— now, that was just ugly.

Sleepy Cloud Guy was …Somewhat quiet …Somewhat peaceful …His guard was down …Could Branch—? No, no he couldn’t. A shovel would’ve just gone through him, obviously. It would’ve hurt him only a little and that wouldn’t have been satisfying.

_Sigh._

Okay.

Back to another thought that Branch wouldn’t dare to ever say out loud because it could blow up in his face spectacularly. He had to, once again, deep deep  _deep_ down, admit that seeing this… softer side to Cloud Guy; one that just gently snuggles against his lover, one that was doing something normal for once, was… was alright. It was alright seeing him like this.

At the very least, he couldn’t be doing that ironically, right? This was a genuine Cloud Guy moment? Genuine Cloud Guy moment #1? One for the history books? One for the  _scrapbooks_?

Maybe Branch’s mind hadn’t completely woken up yet.

He briefly wondered what conversation those two had that led them to fall asleep together. They had an argument and an awkward silence from what Branch remembered before going to sleep. Maybe potential genuine Cloud Guy moment #2 happened during that. It would’ve made sense if Cloud Guy was the type to be sweet when no one else was around besides his significant other. Gotta keep up that  _living scum_ reputation around Branch, but being halfway tolerable towards Gaynbow must take a lot of energy out of Cloud Guy.

Or maybe this idea wouldn’t make sense and Branch was reaching. This  _was_ Cloud Guy after all.

Cloud Guy’s eyes opened up— or as open as they are on the regular— and he looked directly at Branch.

Branch looked back.

Cloud Guy winked. Then went back to sleep.

Branch sighed in defeat, mild confusion, and overall tiredness.

He would never understand Cloud Guy, but at least he understood why those two were together. Well, not entirely because there’s only so much to comprehend about two cryptids in love with each other, but still.

* * *

“Aw, Branch.” Poppy looked at her work, which was in the middle of a mess of felt, glitter, and buttons. She had created her interpretation of this and didn’t like that scrapbook Branch had a frown on his face. “That’s  _kiiind_  of a downer ending. I can’t leave the scrapbook like that!” She gasped. “Is that why you were so happy when you got here? You didn’t make a new friend, so you don’t have to do much social interaction?”

Branch, after removing the glitter that had landed on his face due to Poppy’s gesturing, spoke. “Well, Poppy, if only you’d let me finish.” He swallowed the grub he was chewing on. “We didn’t exactly have breakfast before we left.”

“Gotcha.”

“Hello!” Gaynbow said to the two as he walked towards their picnic setup. He smiled as he held hands with Cloud Guy, who didn’t seem so amused.

Poppy’s eyes sparkled. “Ooh! There’s still part of the story to tell!”

Branch signaled towards Gaynbow to take a seat on the picnic blanket, which he did and so did his strangely quiet partner. “Gaynbow, tell her what happened today.”

“Oh! Well, after apologizing, on my behalf and Cloud’s, who had ‘left’ before us to do ‘cloud stuff’, I tried to initiate conversation with Branch about a topic I gathered that he’d like.”

Branch nodded. “Roasting Cloud Guy.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it that.”

“That’s  _exactly_  what it was.”

“I see. I mainly shared more humorous facts about him, such as how often he practices his deeper, more intimidating voice in private.”

“And I vented out everything that I’ve ever wanted to say about Cloud Guy! To the person who probably loves him the most, no less. Time flew by while we were walking back here.”

“Cloud Guy overheard everything, but that was part of my plan. You know why? Because I had told him not to  _or else_. Of course, he couldn’t resist and heard us poking fun at him, and he couldn’t do anything about it, or else I’d know. But oh, I pay attention to his details and there just so happened to be a cloud with the same amount of bumps on him today.” He tugged at Cloud Guy’s hand to get his attention. “Isn’t that right?” Cloud Guy simply rolled his eyes. “He can’t take what he dishes out.”

Branch did a double take. “Hold on, you knew for sure that he was there?”

“Yes.”

“And he heard everything that I called him?”

“Yes.”

Branch knew absolutely, 100% that Cloud Guy was going to get back at him for that. Someday, somehow. Probably get back at Gaynbow too even though they’re dating. It would probably be less severe. He’d still do it because he’s Cloud Guy.

And yet, Branch’s paranoia mode did not set in.

Instead, he smirked at Cloud Guy.

Cloud Guy finally talked. “Psh. Like I care that you think my eyeshadow isn’t my color. I was gonna test out a new one anyway. Change of pace.”

Gaynbow turned to Poppy and Branch. “He’s a bit of a storm cloud now, but he’ll get over it in a bit.” He turned to Cloud Guy, who glared for one second before placing his hand on his body while cackling for twice that amount.

“ _‘Storm Cloud’_ — ‘Cause I was grouchy. That’s good.”

“Feel better now?”

“Yep.”

Branch groaned at how he couldn’t continue to revel in the fact that he managed to make Cloud Guy get genuinely upset, but then smiled as he continued to eat his grub.

Poppy stared at the image that had been created on her scrapbook of Branch and Gaynbow laughing while walking through the woods, meanwhile a grumpy Cloud Guy loomed above them. “Branch!” She startled him. “So, what I’m getting is that you made a new friend, right?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Because I care about that! Also, I  _have_  to end my scrapbooks on a  _completely_ happy note! Actually…” A lightbulb appeared above her head as she decided to make a craft based on this very moment, one where  _everyone_  seemed to be enjoying themselves for once.

She also gets the chance to scrapbook herself scrapbooking this very page of this scrapbook.


End file.
